Doll found hanging from noose in cockpit at Lambert Airport
10:09 PM CDT on Friday, May 9, 2008
(KMOV)- A photo obtained by News 4 is the center of a case of possible racial harassment inside a U.S. Airways plane at Lambert Airport.
The picture is of a doll hanging from a noose in the cockpit.
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It all happened after a plane landed at Lambert, when a cleaning crew stepped on the plane and discovered the noose in the cockpit.
In Webster’s Dictionary on page 782, a noose is defined as a loop with a running knot that binds closer the more you pull.
But if you ask some U.S. Airways workers at Lambert, they consider a noose symbolizing a black person being hung.
That definition may help explain their reaction when they found a noose tied around the neck of a white doll.
Some U.S. Airways workers agreed to talk to News 4 on camera as long as we concealed their identities.
News 4 did and the workers told us the noose was discovered on Monday evening and that it wasn't removed until Tuesday morning.
So News 4 called U.S. Airways Friday afternoon to find out why.
A spokesperson told News 4 the noose was not racially motivated.
They said some pilots are upset about being forced to join a new union.
And that's why a pilot put up the noose and wrote the letters of the new union on the doll.
But regardless of the reason, the environment for some U.S. Airways employees has drastically changed.
A spokesperson for U.S. Airways said this issue is far from over.
They are working to identify everyone who may be involved with hanging the noose.
So far, no one has been disciplined by the company for this incident.